Ever since the township of Weehawken formed the Weehawken Against Drugs and Alcohol council to make students more aware of the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse, several programs and activities have been offered to encourage awareness.
Probably the one that involves the most amount of residents is the annual Drug and Alcohol Awareness Poster Contest, which includes the work of practically every student in the school system, from kindergarten through eighth grade, and actually includes the residents of the township as well.
The contest has been held for the last eight years now, sponsored by the Weehawken Against Drugs and Alcohol and organized by high school teacher Tony D’Angelo.
Each student is asked to create an original poster, featuring some form of drug, alcohol or tobacco abuse awareness. Then, D’Angelo picks the best 15 posters and displays them at the annual Weehawken Day Festival in October.
“People who come to the festival are given ballots,” D’Angelo said. “And they are asked to vote for the best posters. From those ballots, we pick the top four winners and they are recognized by the township council, with a plaque and a $50 United States savings bond.”
The winning students received their awards from Mayor Richard Turner and the township council at the last regularly scheduled council meeting for the 2000 calendar year, held last month.
D’Angelo said that more than 800 people actually took the time to vote for the best poster.
“I tallied up the votes to determine the winner and nobody has even asked for a recount,” D’Angelo laughed, referring to the endless presidential election. “It’s amazing how many people participated.”
The students receive help in collecting ideas from the respective art teachers at the grammar schools, namely Donna Mansmann at Webster School and Maryellen Spinosa at Roosevelt.
But some of the ideas arrived without guidance from the teachers.
Take, for instance, 11-year-old Karen Molina, who was the overall winner, with her poster: “Smoking: It’s Bad to the Bone.”
“I saw a billboard on the streets and saw the skeleton,” Molina said. “That’s where the idea came from. I knew there was a song by that name as well.”
The song was made famous by George Thorogood and the Delaware Destroyers back in the early 1980s, way before Karen was even born.
Nikolas Baret, also an 11-year-old student at Roosevelt School and a sixth grader like Molina, won second runnerup honors for his poster, “Only Pigs Smoke Cigs,” featuring pigs smoking cigarettes.
“I know a lot of people who smoke, and that had a big part in why I did the poster,” Baret said. “I like doing art a lot, and I plan to get into art when I grow up.”
Another runner-up, 11-year-old Jessica Zapulla, featured the insect motif. She used a bee in her poster, “Bee Drug Free.” Fourth grader Michelle Matute was the first runnerup.
D’Angelo likes having the contest, because it draws out the students’ imagination, while addressing a serious issue that hits close to home.
“There are the education aspects to the contest,” D’Angelo said. “They create the posters, then they go to the classrooms and explain why they picked the certain area. And we then encourage their parents to help them with the projects. They get to talk to their parents. Most parents encouraged the work. Some of the posters have truly personal messages and they’re really well done.”
And then, there’s the contest, with the awards presented by Turner.
“We offer a lot of programs and activities through Weehawken Against Drugs and Alcohol, such as the school play, Project Graduation, and dances, but this contest really serves the true purpose of why the council was formed,” Turner said. “The students are able to put their thoughts and feelings on the poster. And what’s really good is that we get the public involved. There seemed to be an anti-smoking theme this year, and that was good, because smoking is generally targeted toward kids of that age. It generally trickles down into the consciousness of the child, so this is a good start.”
Added Turner, “We’re just happy to be a part of the process and happy to be able to present the awards.” Molina, the eventual winner, never knew that she could win such a contest.
“When Mr. D’Angelo called me to tell me that I won, I thought he was kidding,” Molina said. “It was very exciting for me to win and to get the awards. I think this will help me enter more contests. I just wanted to show that smoking could kill you. I never thought I would win anything.”